Waking up to heartburn, nausea, bloated stomach, burping? Feeling the same after any meal, despite it being small or large? If it happens once in a while, it is fairly manageable, but this happening more often than not, spells for a common, yet fairly painful condition called GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease, which is commonly known as Acid Reflux.
What is Acid Reflux?
Our digestive tract consists of a long tube made up of muscle, which helps food pass from the mouth to the stomach, then shuts or compresses itself to prevent food or acidity from coming back up. When this tube or esophagus decompresses or relaxes, it can cause a situation where food moves back up and causes acid reflux.
How bad is Acid Reflux?
While most of the time, if acid reflux it is infrequent and occasional, it isn’t harmful or bad, but if the frequency of acid reflux increases, it becomes a cause of concern as such acid reflux can damage the walls of the esophagus, causing heartburn, which is quite bothersome. Acid reflux also can be an underlying cause for asthma, erosion of the teeth enamel or chronic cough.
How to tackle Acid Reflux?
While the most chronic cases need surgery, medical intervention and regular medication like PPI’s (proton pump inhibitors), H2 receptor antagonists, omeprazole amongst others. Constant research proves that cases upto moderate and ranging to debilitating conditions of acid reflux are well controlled and managed by changes in diet and lifestyle.
The long term effects of Acid Reflux or GERD medicines are quite a few and concerning. Like any medicine, the long term effect of medicines for acid reflux cannot be discounted and therefore, it is highly advised to make changes in lifestyle and diet as the primary line of treatment.
Lifestyle Changes
There is a strong emphasis and laying down of effectiveness of changes in lifestyle for the managing the acid reflux effectively and with minimum side effects. Amongst the lifestyle changes, some of the best ways to deal with acid reflux are:-
- Losing weight- There can never be enough emphasis laid down on losing weight. The esophageal sphincter is supported by the diaphragm. When there is an even distribution of weight in the body, the diaphragm is close to the esophagus and thus regulates the movement. When there is excess of fat deposit, especially in the belly area, the diaphragm moves away from the esophagus and therefore, there is a higher risk of acid reflux and GERD.
- Exercise- light to moderate exercise, including brisk walk, yoga, jogging, swimming, help alleviate and manage severe acid reflux and GERD conditions. This is because it causes an increase in the blood flow, regulating the gastric juices, and regulating the parts and organs of the body.
- Sleep cycle- regulating your sleep cycle with a healthy 8-10 hours of proper sleep, with sleeping on the right time and minimum three hours after a meal is important.
Dietary Changes
Dietary changes also have a big impact on the acid reflux and GERD symptoms on the body. Some of the changes to be considered are:-
- Avoiding Caffeine, Soda, Carbonated beverages- Such drinks have a weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter and the usage of carbonated water causes too much belching.
- Eat smaller meals and more frequently. A large meal is difficult to digest and can cause belching and a lot of acidity. It is always better to eat slow meals and low calorie, high fiber meals.
- Avoid foods which are spicy, fatty, have raw onion and garlic amongst others as they are the cause of a lot of dietary issues, including acid reflux.
- Introduce a minimum of 3 litre of water, alkaline foods, healthy nuts, fiber rich food for best results.
To round it all up, it is necessary to have good sleep, proper lifestyle coupled with dietary changes for beating acid reflux.